Pierre et Jean
Pierre et Jean is a naturalist work written by Guy de Maupassant and first published in 1887.
This was Maupassant's shortest novel and is a realist work, notably so by the subjects on which it treats, including knowledge of one's heredity, the bourgeoisie, and the problems stemming from money.
Gérôme Roland is a retired jeweler who lives in the French city of Le Havre with his wife Louise. The marriage has two children: Pierre and Jean. The first is a doctor and the second is a lawyer.
The novel tells how the lives of this middle-class family change when a family friend passes away and leaves his inheritance to Jean.
His brother Pierre suspects that his mother was unfaithful and that his brother is not a legitimate son.
He begins to investigate and his suspicions are discovered to be correct when he discovers that his mother has hidden that she had a relationship with the deceased friend...
This digital edition of the novel Pierre et Jean is based on Clara Bell's translation.
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Public domain (US)·No sign-up·DRM-free·Real text, not scans
Copyright note. Pierre et Jean by Guy de Maupassant is believed to be in the public domain in the United States only. It may still be copyrighted in other countries. If you are not in the United States, please check your local laws to ensure this eBook is in the public domain in your country before downloading Pierre et Jean in PDF or EPUB.
- Pages
- 124
- Reading time
- 3 hours 50 minutes
- Pace
- Intermediate
- First published
- 1887
- Language
- French
- Downloads
- 2,613
139 years later, still timely
Why Read Pierre et Jean in 2026?
Maupassant builds a family novel like a case study: a bequest, a suspicion, and jealousy distilled to its cold logic. The style is transparent; the psychology is not. Without melodrama, it shows how a single fact can tilt a household and rewrite identities.
Today's connection
In an age of DNA tests and public revelations, this short novel explores privacy, kinship, and the price of knowing too much.
Truth vs. peace
What knowledge costs.
Intimate fallout
Quiet rooms, loud feelings.
Clear realism
Style that never blinks.
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About the author
Guy de Maupassant
Short fiction with exact observation, irony, and human limits.
